At this point in his nascent career as a general manager, A.J. Preller might be succinctly described as possessing a high ceiling and a low floor. More than a few in baseball have said as much.

The bar the Padres' new leading man set at his introductory press conference is World Series-high. Clearing it may well take his combination of an old-school scouting background and new-school zeal.

"I really want our staff to think about being cutting edge," Preller said Wednesday at Petco Park. "I look forward to being that type of group, being next-wave, being ahead of the curve. ... Usually when you get an idea or thought that works, within a year 10 other teams are copying that or doing the same thing. That's why you constantly have to hit on ideas that give you a competitive advantage and, when the competition catches up, hopefully hit on the next idea to take us where we need to get to."

Beyond the pale, Preller may have pushed too far on at least one occasion. FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reports that, in the late 2000s, MLB levied a three-month suspension -- later reduced to one month -- on Preller for an incident that occurred while he was scouting in the Dominican Republic.

Preller's violation, Rosenthal writes, evidently "stemmed from negotiating with a player who had been suspended for an age/ID discrepancy." MLB teams are prohibited from talking to players under suspension.

As for Preller's suspension, the Padres were apprised by the Commissioner's Office when the then-Rangers assistant GM was submitted as a candidate. According to Padres executive chairman Ron Fowler and team president and CEO Mike Dee, they were told the past discipline would not be a problem. (Ironically, when he worked for MLB, Preller assisted Frank Robinson with discipline, among other duties.)

"It was a disagreement with the way Major League Baseball viewed a certain situation," Preller said on The Mighty 1090 on Thursday. "Ultimately, MLB ended up putting a slap on the wrist on myself and the Rangers. From their standpoint, they feel like everything has been cleared on their end."

Preller was not available for further comment Friday.

Some within baseball say there have been multiple incidents that have landed Preller in a bit of hot water, though there appears to be only one confirmed suspension. Details are exceedingly rare. A source told the U-T that even some of the Rangers' high-level officials were "out of the loop" on all that had transpired with Preller in Latin America.

So it goes in the loosely regulated vastness of the international market, in which Preller is far from the only one who may have flouted the rules. His hiring to a highly visible position, coupled with his foreign successes, has magnified the attention. Ask those around the industry, and Preller's alleged past indiscretion is no secret.

With no known restrictions moving forward, the new Padres GM should be free to pursue impact international talent, his area of expertise. Some question whether he will be able to produce results with what presumably will be a smaller budget. Most agree that his scouting acumen and work ethic are among the best in the game.

One rival club official who has worked with Preller praised his character, as well as his track record in the Dominican Republic. The same official also noted that the 37-year-old, who has made a rapid ascent from assistant GM to GM, has less experience at the MLB level.

For Preller, who largely operated behind the scenes in Texas, that could prove his biggest challenge.